Roger McGuinn &gt; & Marty Stuart, with The Fabulous Superlatives

Marty Stuart has been married to fellow country music artist Connie Smith since 1997.

Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Roger McGuinn has no interest in reforming The Byrds, the legendary band he led in the 1960s and early ’70s that helped pioneer folk-rock (“Mr. Tambourine Man,” “Turn! Turn! Turn!”), raga-rock (“Eight Miles High,” “Why”) and country-rock (“Time Between,” “Hickory Wind”).

But when he performs Friday at the Poway Center for the Performing Arts with country-music stalwart Marty Stuart and his band, The Fabulous Superlatives, McGuinn will happily revisit some of the classic songs he recorded with The Byrds. He couldn’t be happier.

“I first met Marty back around 2000,” McGuinn, 71, recalled. “He had a Martin guitar with a B-Bender (pitch-changer) and Marty has always been big fan of (deceased Byrds’ guitarist and B-Bender co-creator) Clarence (White). So we played ‘Old Blue,’ ‘Chestnut Mare’ — all the old Byrds’ songs — and it was like being in The Byrds again. I had no idea Marty had almost cloned Clarence!”

Stuart was subsequently instrumental in inviting McGuinn to sing on the Grand Ole Opry. The Byrds received a decidedly cool response when they performed on a 1968 Opry telecast, largely part because the audience didn’t appreciate long-haired hippies playing country music.

The friendship between McGuinn and Stuart has grown ever since, although McGuinn said they have only performed four shows together. Their Poway performance is part of a four-city West Coast mini-tour.

Meanwhile, The Byrds’ other two surviving co-founders, David Crosby and ex-San Diego bluegrass mainstay Chris Hillman, have repeatedly expressed a desire to reunite The Byrds, to no avail.

“I’m so happy doing what I’m doing that I don’t want to rekindle The Byrds,” said McGuinn, who plays about 30 solo shows a year. “Paul McCartney was once asked about getting The Beatles back together, when all the members were still alive, and he said: ‘You can’t reheat a soufflé.’

“Reuniting The Byrds would be nostalgic and it wouldn’t be the same, as evidenced by when we tried to do a (1973) reunion album and it wasn’t the same. But, never say never.”